Matteuccia struthiopteris
Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) is the source of the early spring culinary delicacy fiddleheads.
Description:
Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) has been made famous by New Brunswickers who collect the young emerging fiddleheads in early spring as a culinary delicacy. Boil or sautee and apply a healthy amount of butter (but don't eat them raw). It is also a tall, stately, ornamental fern with carefully positioned fronds forming an elegant upward-facing cone. It grows across Canada (and around the northern hemisphere) and is hardy to zone 1b! Some web sites say zone 2 but I've seen it growing a half zone colder in northern Saskatchewan! Ostrich fern will eventually spread by underground rhizomes to form lush colonies.
Common Name: Ostrich Fern - [Citrus Pre-Order]
Family: Dryopteridaceae (The Wood Fern Family)
Zone Hardiness: 1
Light: Full Shade, Part Shade
Height: 3-4’
Width: 2-3'
Primary Bloom Colour: Green
Secondary Bloom Colour: Green
Class: Deciduous
Type: Perennial
Bloom Time: Spring
Soil Moisture: Moist, Average, Wet
Stem Colour:
Fragrance: No
Berries:
Benefits:
Deer Resistant: Yes
BC Native: Yes
Native Habitat: Moist to wet sandy or silty banks of rivers and streams and alluvial forests in lowland and montane zones.
Award:
Geogrpahical Origin: Americas - North America
Europe and Africa - Europe and Western Russia
Asia and the Pacific - North Central and Eastern Asia
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